Another interesting roster turn just popped across the wire.
Adam Eaton has been optioned to the minor leagues, paving the way for what should be the promotion of lefthander J.A. Happ from Triple A Lehigh Valley. Eaton has not been assigned to a specific classification because his schedule has not been announced.
Eaton, like Brett Myers before him, had the right to refuse the assignment. Eaton, 31, was 4-8 with a 5.80 ERA in 21 games (19 starts) for the Phillies this season. His last two appearances came in relief. He allowed three runs yesterday in the Phillies' 12-10 win over the Braves.
Yesterday in Richmond, Happ was lifted from the game by manager Dave Huppert after just 2 2/3 innings and 41 pitches against the Triple A Braves. He hadn’t allowed a run, giving up two hits and a walk while striking out three. There were reports that he received high fives from his teammates when he came back to the dugout.
“I’m physically fine,” Happ coyly told a reporter who reached him by phone last night. “They haven’t made a move yet, so I don’t feel it’s appropriate to comment. I’m still waiting for the phone call.”
The Phillies said a roster move would be made before tomorrow's game in Washington against the Nationals.
Posted by David Murphy @ 11:40 AM
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84 comments
It is about time. He is suited to throw pitches for the home run hitting contest at the all star game.
Maybe a call up for his hitting prowess in September will be in order.
Gillick finally got some sense.
KEEP HIM THERE!!
It's not mentioned but we're assuming that he was sent to the instructional league. Right?
this should've happened 2 months ago. this guy is the definition of a bust.
It's not mentioned but we're assuming that he was sent to the instructional league. Right?
The most expensive pitcher in the minor leagues, but when your name is Adam Eaton, you definitely belong there! IT'S ABOUT TIME!!!
What a relief. Happ may not be the second coming of Cy Young but all he has to do is not be the second coming of Adam Eaton.
Good move, should have happenned weeks ago. Haap looked good to me when he as up. A starting rotation with 3 lefties is a rare thing these days.
Happ isnt going to start. Look for 3-4 more weeks of Blanton before that is even considered.
Now watch the stupid management make Happ relieve for a bit and than try to start him later. That's going to mess up his groove. They need to shift Myers to the 'pen now and put Happ in Myers' spot.
SO, as has already been said, where do you put Happ, in the bullpen? he';s a starter and we have 5 of those already. unless, of course, there is a deal pending with one of our starters
Does Eaton ever look like he cares? Maybe we wouldn't, either, if we knew we still had another $12 or so mill coming to us guaranteed. Makes stinkin' a whole lot more fun.
Who is Adam Eaton?
They better start Happ now and shift Myers to the bullpen. I will be very upset if they don't.
One of Gillick's best signings of all time. Eat his contract already.
Eaton is in need of motivational therapy. Would not surprise me to see him doing well in the majors in the future if he gets the help he needs.
No ... he sucks. End of story. NOw if only Charlie Manuel can lose some weight. He's starting to make Andy Reid look thin. Go Phillies!
We have season tickets for the IronPigs, Happ is very deserving of taking Eaton's spot in the rotation.
In my opinion, Eaton isn't deserving of a Minor League spot. The Minor League pitchers are way better than this guy and alot less Money. What were the Phils thinking when they signed him!
What took so long. Even though he has had a couple good games, he has not pitched well for some time. The phils should have made better moves with their pitching staff.
could this be Phils' brass finally turning the corner to becoming a "performance-driven organization"??
This is a great move.
I saw Happ pitch a rain-shorted no hitter and he looked great. I am really surprised that Eaton accepted a trip to the minors at all, but I'm glad he did.
Whats the difference? They brought in Blanton to take his place.
ksbracing. My condolences on having season tickets to the pigs. What place in the starting rotation did Eaton have, though? That was taken away last week when we got teh Eaton-look-a-like from the A's
If Myers has a so-so or bad outing tomorrow night look for him to be sent to the bullpen and Happ take his place in the rotation.
Surprised? .... No, he sux.
Ugh... they are going to stick Happ in the pen, you know it, and mess with the kid's head just like they did with Ryan Madson and Gavin Floyd when they first came up. All because they don't want to admit that moving Myers back to the rotation was a MISTAKE, and anyone should've been able to see it coming.
They finally listened to me.
Wow...this comment stuff really works.
I hope Gillick calls me about the JRoll situation.
I only hope they did not make Eaton any guarantees about coming back to the Phillies any time soon. He has proven time and again he cannot pitch effectively consistently at the major league level.
I like others wonder what Happ's role will be in the bigs. I don't like the idea of him coming out of the pen...
Trade Kendrick and Happ NOW (plus 2 minor leaguers) For Roy Halladay!
mills defintely...myers is and will always be a relief/closer.. put Happ in the start rotation ASAP
yes put Haap in the rotation and make myers the 8th inning setup man for lidge.
TRADE MYERS,TRADE MYERS PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.
Why doesn't he give back some money and re negotiate his contract since he underperformed it. BS with these whiny atheletes crying about their million dollar contracts!
I agree that Happ needs to start & myers needs to come out of the rotation, but i sure as heck don't want Myers taking Durbin's set up role, or even Romero's for that matter. Trade Myers to someone who really need bullpen help - ours is actually pretty good for a change. Probabaly would have been in better shape if we just did this in the first place instead of going after blanton.
I would not care if we ever see Adam Eaton again. He has not gotten the job done at the ML level and the Minors is where he belongs.
himills, be prepared to be upset then. Since when do the Phillies ever do the smart thing? For the record, I agree with you, but I doubt that will happen. Welcome to the bullpen, JA.
Can the Phillies get the money back?
It's a start. I'm afraid though that this kid Blanton is just a fat Adam Eaton. Here's hoping that Happ is better and that Gillick makes another trade for a starting pitcher. Based on his last start, Bratt Myers could be the next Joe Cowley!
Hopefully, this will wake up Kendrick too. That 4.70 ERA of his isnt exactly a stellar performance.
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Himills is absolutely right, Happ's a starter. Either trade Myers or put him in the bullpen. Or, would they trade Happ? Either way, don't use Happ in the pen - he looks like he'll be a good 3-4 starter for somebody.
Gillick is sure getting a free ride. He signed Garcia to a $10 million contract and got one win. He signed two head jobs, Myers and Eaton, to three year contracts and both ended up in the minors in their second year. He gave Wes Helms a two year contract...another disaster. Granted,he traded for Lidge. However, part of the reasoning was that Myers could return to starting and we know how that has turned out. Except for Lidge and Moyers all current impact players were already in the Phillies system when Gillick was hired. It's frightening to think that he is training the next GM.
don't ride Kendrick. The kid's doing fine. He puts in quality starts as the number 4 starter and that is what is is supposed to be. The fact that thanks to Myers he's moved up to number 2 or 3 isn't his fault.
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It doesn't matter what the Phillies do. This is Philadelphia where everything goes wrong. Had the Phillies gotten Sabathia, he'd be 0 - 4 instead of 4 -0. This isn't pessimism, just reality. I'm 54 and seen it all.
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Is he taking Myers with him? He's a donkey.
The only way this makes sense is if the Phillies have someone willing to trade for Myers. That way they move Myers out of the rotation, move Happ in and wash their hands of Eaton. That creates a decent-but-not-great starting five of Hamels-Moyer-Blanton-Kendrick-Happ.
So who would be crazy enough to swap for Myers? Would Francona take a chance on him? Or maybe a wild-card contender that needs a closer.
Send Uncle Charlie Manuel to keep Eaton company.
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Oh Adam ......We will miss you in the Big Leagues.. Have a nice
life in the minors. YOUR A LOSER LLLLLLLL OOOOOOO SSSSSS EEEEE RRRR
A STINKIN LOSER !!
HOW MANY GAME BLOWING IGNORANT DECISIONS WILL MANUEL MAKE BEFORE OWNERSHIP UNDERSTANDS HE HAS NO CLUE?
If putting Happ in the rotation doesn't work, Gillick says there will be roving tryouts at little league games for the rest of the year.
Look for Myers to get traded now. The new team can make him their closer.
I think they just need to move myers to the back end of the bullpen to set up for lidge, put happ in the rotation. Very solid back end with a dominating lidge and a happy myers
Myers should have stayed in the minor leagues for the rest of the season. A few weeks there wasn't going to change a thing and didn't send a strong enough message. He has absolutely murdered them this year and they have themselves to blame for trusting him. But since Montgomery and his hypocritical staff have saved his sorry rear end once again (for pure dollars and cents) he should be put in middle relief and Happ should get the starts.
I'm in that large group of fans in this region who wonder what (besides the long-term nature of his contract) allows Myers so many chances.
I don't think Gillick is that foolish. He didn't turn dumb all of a sudden. When he was first hired he all but said outright that he was working within certain boundaries. Take it to mean that Montgomery controls the money and therefore has the final word on running this team, which means signing premier pitching for long term deals is not going to happen. Which is why we are suffering with the Myers/Eaton/Garcia et al issue, and why we don't have a stud #1 or 2 with Hamels. And it's why the current manager is still here.
Bring Mannie Ramirez into town now! We win the whole enchilada with him!
Dump Myers in a trade, if anybody would want him. He's given up more tatters than Eaton and his era isn't any better. Send Blanton back, please!
Eaton is the definition of a stiff.
Myers days as a starter are just about over also. Move Happ in his place and Myers to the pen. We have two very expensive pitchers giving us nothing. Thank god they hit this weekend, or we would have been swept.
Forget the Iron Pigs; Eaton AND Myers should try out for the Bad News Bears. The two biggest thieves in MLB!!!!!!
Now watch Eaton have a "mysterious" accident on the way to the Lehigh Valley........
The bullpen is this team's best asset. Why let Myers mess it up? His velocity will still be the same no matter what inning you send him out there.
Myers won't last in the rotation, Happ will be in there, don't worry folks, it's July still (only a few days left) but still we have two full months to go.
Can we play the Braves for the rest of the season?
He definitely belongs there, but I thought the front office would let their pride interfere with their thinking and they would just demote Eaton to the bullpen.
I get the enthusiasm over Happ after Kendrick's performance last year and the bad year by Myers this year, but let's not anoint this guy the savior yet. he's only thrown 15 innings in 3 games, hasnt exactly fooled many hitters, and was averaging only 6 innings a game in Lehigh. Give him a few innings before you replace myers with him in the rotation. let him prove SOMETHING.
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About time!
its about time. Happ was great in his 2 starts
Myers needs to go the pen. At least you have a chance to win with Happ starting. Hopefully that will keep Myers from whining about how he feels he's a closer. At least it's one step closer to that for him.
Thank god football starts soon
who cares about eaton...where the heck are these Alicia Layne Beekeenee photos?
Can't Gillick be optioned to the minors too? Let's see; his major pitching acquisitions have been: Ryan Franklin, Adam Eaton, Freddy Garcia, and Joe Blanton. Isn't Antonio Alfonseca available? Jose Mesa?
Man, you people are rough. I have no issue with Myers. The guy has a fragile psyche, everyone knows it, yet they chose to mess with it, and it blew up in their faces. Not to mention he was a solid relief pitcher after never having lived up to expectations as a starter, and yet they chose to annoint him the ace of their starting staff like he used be John Smoltz or something. And the reason he gets so many chances to prove himself is because they invested this entire season on his ability to transition BACK into the rotation, coupled with the fact that the guy has been the ultimate team player, done whatever he was asked, never complained. As for Eaton, I feel bad for the dude. I have no idea what his problem is, whether it is mechanical or psychological or parenthetical; all I know is I can watch the guy throw a dynamite 1-1 slider for strike 2, then later in the count try to throw the same pitch for the K, but instead it lays over the middle of the plate with little or no movement, and gets smoked. I cannot figure out why there is no consistency to his location, or, more importantly, his movement, but when the guy is right, he has good stuff. And I sure hope this nonsense about Myers starting tomorrow is just a smoke screen because Happ pitched yesterday, and they don't want to hurt Brett's feeling, but tomorrow night should be Brett's last start as a Phillie. Happ should make Myers's next start Sunday in St. Louis, and Brett should be back in the bullpen where he belongs, where he wants to be.
"Despite yesterday's "highly unlikely" comment from Dan O'Dowd, Rosenthal says the Rockies would trade Brian Fuentes for a young MLB-ready starter." - - - Is it possible that Happ was not removed from his start yesterday because he is being called up, but rather because he is on his way to Denver? As much as I would like to see Brian Fuentes here for the rest of the year, that would still leave us with a rotation of Hamels, Moyer, Blanton, Kendrick and Myers, which is, to be fair, a #1, a #3, two #5's, and a relief pitcher.
Is Ed Wade still available?
They should send him to Little League and start over. That is one expensive minor leaguer.
I don't know if we'll see the Myers of last year if he's moved to the pen. His velocity is down from last year and his control is way off. He's getting absolutely clobbered in the 1st inning this year which doesn't bode well for relief appearances either. If he comes into a game late and gets lit up like he does when he comes into the beginning of games, then that won't help us much. Plus, he won't be closing and apparently he can't "pitch" anymore unless he closes and gets his "rock star" buzz on.
sometimes i think i'm not watching the same game as everyone else. myers wasnt this spectacular relief pitcher like everyone says. he blew his fair share of saves last year. and happ had "2 great starts?" i saw 1 of them vs the Mets where he went 4 2/3 innings and let up 2 runs. how that's a "great" start is beyond me. a solution to this pitching situation is NOT on their roster.
Myers as a setup man? He won't like that any better than starting, and he sure won't take over Brad Lidge's spot as closer. I can't see where Happ is going to go, and who goes where if he is put into the starting rotation. They may well be preparing him for a trade.
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